Birch Seedlings (birch + seedling)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Kinds of Birch Seedlings

  • silver birch seedling


  • Selected Abstracts


    Assessment of UV Biological Spectral Weighting Functions for Phenolic Metabolites and Growth Responses in Silver Birch Seedlings

    PHOTOCHEMISTRY & PHOTOBIOLOGY, Issue 6 2009
    Titta Kotilainen
    In research concerning stratospheric ozone depletion, action spectra are used as biological spectral weighting functions (BSWFs) for describing the effects of UV radiation on plant responses. Our aim was to evaluate the appropriateness of six frequently used BSWFs that differ in effectiveness with increasing wavelength. The evaluation of action spectra was based on calculating the effective UV radiation doses according to 1,2) two formulations of the generalized plant action spectrum, 3) a spectrum for ultraviolet induced erythema in human skin, 4) a spectrum for the accumulation of a flavonol in Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, 5) a spectrum for DNA damage in alfalfa seedlings and 6) the plant growth action spectrum. We monitored effects of UV radiation on the concentration of individual UV absorbing metabolites and chlorophyll concentrations in leaves and growth responses of silver birch (Betula pendula) seedlings. Experiments were conducted outdoors using plastic films attenuating different parts of the UV spectrum. Chlorophyll concentrations and growth were not affected by the UV treatments. The response to UV radiation varied between and within groups of phenolics. In general, the observed responses of phenolic groups and individual flavonoids were best predicted by action spectra extending into the UV-A region with moderate effectiveness. [source]


    Physical Sheltering and Liming Improve Survival and Performance of Mountain Birch Seedlings: A 5-Year Study in a Heavily Polluted Industrial Barren

    RESTORATION ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2006
    Janne K. Eränen
    Abstract Denuded landscapes adjacent to big polluters represent an extremely harsh environment for plants due to a unique combination of soil toxicity and physical stress. In a 5-year experiment we tested whether survival and performance of seedlings of Mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) planted in two barren sites around the nickel,copper smelter at Monchegorsk, northwestern Russia, can be enhanced by physical sheltering and how large the supposed benefits to survival and performance are in relation to liming. Seedling performance was assessed by measuring growth parameters and chlorophyll fluorescence. Physical sheltering was found to be beneficial in some conditions: when soil characteristics were not so harsh as to cause 100% mortality, sheltering increased both survival and performance of birch seedlings. Although the benefits of liming on seedling performance and survival were stronger than the benefits of sheltering, sheltering may still have its uses in restoration when large-scale liming is not applicable, for example, when the ecological side effects of liming are to be avoided. [source]


    The effects of calcium on stem lesions of silver birch seedlings

    FOREST PATHOLOGY, Issue 2 2007
    A. Lilja
    Summary In this study, we tested the hypothesis that decreased liming of growth medium has a role in the increase of stem lesions and top dying caused by Phytophthora cactorum in containerized silver birch seedlings (Betula pendula) in Finnish forest nurseries. The effect of limestone dose rates on growth and the nutrient status was also monitored. An index based on severity of symptom expression was used to compare the effect of different liming treatments on P. cactorum infection. Limestone amended into the sphagnum peat growth medium increased the amount of calcium in the seedling stems. Liming did not significantly decrease the disease severity although index values in most cases decreased with the increased limestone dose rates. In general, the lesions were restricted after out-planting and the mortality of seedlings was low. Only inoculated seedlings on which the lesions had spread around the stem in the nursery died. Phytophthora cactorum appears to be a nursery pathogen, as it did not survive under conditions present in the field. Four years after out-planting, the tallest birches were those grown in sphagnum peat amended with the highest limestone dose of 8 kg m,3. [source]


    The effects of insect pathogenic soil fungi and ectomycorrhizal inoculation of birch seedlings on the survival of Otiorhynchus larvae

    AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 3 2010
    Edda S. Oddsdottir
    1Weevil larvae of the genus Otiorhynchus are a serious problem in agriculture and forestry, causing damage to a wide range of plant species, primarily by larval feeding on roots. Otiorhynchus larvae are a serious pest in forest plantations in Iceland, causing 10,20% mortality of newly-planted seedlings. 2We studied the effects of soil fungi on the survival of Otiorhynchus sulcatus larvae. The larvae were introduced into pots with birch seedlings grown in: (i) nursery peat; (ii) nursery peat inoculated with three different species of ectomycorrhizal fungi; (iii) nursery peat inoculated with insect pathogenic fungi; (iv) nursery peat inoculated with ectomycorrhizal fungi and insect pathogenic fungi; and (v) nursery peat inoculated with natural forest soil from Icelandic birch woodland. 3Larval survival was negatively affected by inoculation of: (i) the ectomycorrhizal fungus Laccaria laccata; (ii) the ectomycorrhizal fungus Cenococcum geophylum; (iii) the insect pathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae; and (iv) forest soil. Inoculation with the ectomycorrhizal fungus Phialophora finlandia did not have any significant effect on larval survival. No significant synergistic effect was found between insect pathogenic and ectomycorrhizal fungi. 4It is concluded that ectomycorrhizal and insect pathogenic fungi have a significant potential in biological control of Otiorhynchus larvae in afforestation areas in Iceland. Further studies are needed to establish the effect of these fungi in the field and to analyse how mycorrhizal fungi affect root-feeding larvae. [source]


    Adult large pine weevils Hylobius abietis feed on silver birch Betula pendula even in the presence of conifer seedlings

    AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 2 2006
    Riitta Toivonen
    Abstract 1,The feeding preference of the adult pine weevil Hylobius abietis (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) for Betula pendula Roth was studied in no-choice and paired-choice feeding experiments. 2,In the first no-choice test, large quantities of silver birch bark in Petri dishes were consumed; on average, the daily consumption of each weevil was 67 mm2. 3,In the second no-choice test, the weevils were offered 1-year-old silver birch seedlings for 6 days. Initially, the weevils fed mostly on the stem bases; later, they moved upward to feed on other parts of the stems. In addition to the main shoots, scars caused by gnawing were also found on leaf bases, blades, veins and petioles. Feeding resulted in the death of the main stems in 15% of the seedlings. 4,In the paired-choice tests, the conifers were preferred to silver birch, even though a large amount of silver birch was also consumed in the presence of conifers. 5,In the paired-choice tests, equal amounts of Scots pine and Norway spruce were always consumed. When hybrid aspen was offered, only small amounts were gnawed. [source]


    Physical Sheltering and Liming Improve Survival and Performance of Mountain Birch Seedlings: A 5-Year Study in a Heavily Polluted Industrial Barren

    RESTORATION ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2006
    Janne K. Eränen
    Abstract Denuded landscapes adjacent to big polluters represent an extremely harsh environment for plants due to a unique combination of soil toxicity and physical stress. In a 5-year experiment we tested whether survival and performance of seedlings of Mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) planted in two barren sites around the nickel,copper smelter at Monchegorsk, northwestern Russia, can be enhanced by physical sheltering and how large the supposed benefits to survival and performance are in relation to liming. Seedling performance was assessed by measuring growth parameters and chlorophyll fluorescence. Physical sheltering was found to be beneficial in some conditions: when soil characteristics were not so harsh as to cause 100% mortality, sheltering increased both survival and performance of birch seedlings. Although the benefits of liming on seedling performance and survival were stronger than the benefits of sheltering, sheltering may still have its uses in restoration when large-scale liming is not applicable, for example, when the ecological side effects of liming are to be avoided. [source]